Ranger has an assignment for Stephanie. He wants her to plant a bug on her ex-husband, lawyer Dickie Orr. Stephanie doesn’t particularly want to do it, but how can she resist when Ranger asks. When Dickie’s involved, however, things generally turn bad and this time is no different. Stephanie and Dickie get into it. The next day he’s missing, leaving behind bloodstains in his house. The previous day’s events make Stephanie the prime suspect in his disappearance.

Stephanie must enlist the help of fellow bounty hunter, Ranger, and her on-again boyfriend and cop, Joe Morelli. As always happens with Stephanie, though, things don’t come easy. She’s driving a maroon “cop car,” and chasing two bond jumpers, one a grave-robber, the other a taxidermist who makes stuffed animals that explode. Will Stephanie be able to find out what happened to Dickie before she gets arrested?

Lean Mean Thirteen continues the tried and true formula that has made the Stephanie Plum novels so popular and so much fun to read. One of the things that I love about Ms. Evanovich’s books is the characters -- they are all larger-than-life and all a hoot. Particularly fun for me is Lula and Grandma Mazur. In this book, Joyce Barnhardt, Stephanie’s arch-rival, makes an appearance and provides some laughs.

Stephanie’s continued attraction to both Ranger and Morelli is always fun to watch. Lean Mean Thirteen had me in stitches and wondering “Where does Janet Evanovich come up with these ideas?” Well, as long as she continues to do so, I’ll be happy. Lean Mean Thirteen is a definite recommended read, and re-read, for me.